Prototype T
by Arctic Knight
Summary: A darker take on how Tails came into the Sonic Universe. Heavily edited, this Fic is an AU. All criticism welcomed. Sorry guys, plot holes may still be there. But hopefully the overall detail of the second half of the story has been put up to that of the first half. Enjoy :)


**Prototype T:**

 _ **A/N: Man you wouldn't believe how hard it is to actually write this sort of thing for a first story. I do not in any way own the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise; they belong to SEGA as well as the Sonic Team. Well, without further ado shall we get to the first fic?**_

Darkness… Darkness is all I see around me. Lights flash, blurred images pass along my now opened eyes. A man stands there, talking; I cannot make out what is being said. I strain my ears to listen, muffled voices meet my eardrums.

"Doctor the subject is waking up." I hear a metallic voice echo,

"Good, drain the fluid in the specimens tank, I want to run some tests." I hear a slightly deep, gruff voice purr.

I begin to panic. Tank? What did he mean tank? And fluid? Am I drowning? Am I dead? As these thoughts chased each other around my mind, I heard a faint mechanical sound. The fluid was draining from this cell they called a tank. The glass encasement that so surrounded me was slowly and gradually departing, leaving me to cough and hack on the cold metal floor. I looked up taking my first breath of air, it tasted stale, and smelled of iron. I slowly stood, slightly wobbling on my feet. That's when I saw the two figures without the blurriness of the gel in that cramped tank. One was a man, large moustache, red coat and belly high pants, the other, a small robot, red paint all over and round in shape, it looked like this man wanted a tiny, robot for a doppelganger.

"Ah… Yes, the experiment was a success, I'm glad." The Tall Man said in a sly tone. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Doctor Robotnik, this is Doppelganger Bot and you… You are my experiment." The self-proclaimed Doctor Robotnik said, in a dark tone.

"Doctor, the specimen's vitals are reading stable, all except for its tail" the metallic voice of Doppelganger Bot rang.

"What do you mean 'all except for its tail?'?" Doctor Robotnik asked coldly, on the verge of shouting.

"Well Doctor, spin the specimen around and we shall take a look." Doppelganger Bot said

I became nervous, but curious at the same time, what am I? Where did I come from? Was I this Doctor Robotniks child? What did he mean tail? I started to back away fearful of what was to come, when all they did was spin me around.

"Marvellous, absolutely marvellous," the Doctor ogled "Why he has two tails instead of one! He is amazing, better than any robot I have ever built!" The Doctor marvelled.

"Truly amazing Doctor, you have outdone yourself" the mechanical praise of Doppelganger Bot arose.

For the first time I felt like speaking up, like being heard by these here strangers that so fussed over me; "Um, excuse me?" My voice sounded strange, awkward even but still I continued: "What am I? Who am I?"

"Ah yes! Your first words! Now, you are Prototype T, and you are a little fox who will obey my every command, got it?" The Doctor quipped.

I swallowed. Hard. "Y-yes Sir I-I understand" I stuttered meekly

"Good… Good… Now! Doppelganger Bot grab this specimen a mirror!" The Doctor shouted.

"Yes sir! Right away sir!" The little bot shouted as it rolled away. I thought it was quite cool how the little robot wheeled away at such incredible speeds for something so small. I was soon snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of Doctor Robotniks voice.

"Now! We can get down to business! We'll have to think up a name for you, we can't just rely on 'Prototype T' now can we?" he asked me.

"No Doctor!" I replied, slightly intimidated by the large man.

"Well it looks like someone is afraid of their creator…" Doctor Robotnik chuckled darkly, nearly inaudible, just as the quite intriguing little robot wheeled its way back inside of the room, interrupting the current conversation about names and carrying what looked like a thin piece of glass. "Ah! Splendid! The mirror has arrived, now Prototype T, I want you to look into this mirror and tell me what you see." I did as I was told and saw something that sparked more questions than I had before. Looking back at me from the reflective surface… was a face, the face of a young fox, with orangey-golden fur, a black nose, and quite soft features.

After seeing myself for the first time I questioned: "What am I Doctor Robotnik?"

"You are a genetic experiment, but you are more than that," he said, "You are like a son to me, I have waited a long 6 months for you to be born and I couldn't be happier with the results, now, we have waited long enough let us get this tank fluid cleaned off of you and get you comfortable… preferably away from here" as he was speaking he led me down a hallway filled with robots and other mechanical creations. After I was "cleaned off," which consisted of a full body spray with a hose filled with soap used to remove the fluid, he took me to a room, it was spacious and filled with all kinds of different things. To one side there was a large bookshelf filled to the brim with everything from history books to books on mechanical subjects. On the far side near the bed was a window, with bars placed on the inside and outside, I immediately shrugged it off as a safety precaution as the base was floating near a series of islands. As I was busy looking at the workbench that was placed on the wall near the door of the room Doctor Robotnik spoke up "Well now, this is your living space, when you have free time this is where you shall stay, this is also where you shall sleep, there is a bathroom in a doorway in the left corner over there," the Doctor explained as he pointed towards the corner, where now after a slight observation, I could see a door.

After explaining the rest of the rooms that I would be acquainting myself with, Doctor Robotnik left me to my own devices and to allow me space to get used to my room. An hour had passed and Doctor Robotnik had come back in to see how I was settling in.

"So how do you like your room?" The now kindly seeming Doctor had asked me.

"It's great!" I replied, now seeing the man in a more friendly state than before when he had first awoken me, "I really appreciate all that you have done for me Doctor Robotnik!" I continued with glee.

"Good, good. Now we must get back to the subject that we were on before," Doctor Robotnik stated, "The one about names, now as before I can't really rely on 'Prototype T' now can I?" Doctor Robotnik asked.

"No sir we can't rely on 'Prototype T' sir." I replied, glad that I wasn't going to have a label for a name anymore.

"Hmm… let me think, what are you reading there?" Doctor Robotnik asked me.

Fearing that I was in trouble for taking one of the books from the shelf and reading it without permission I replied, in quite a fluster "W-well I-I I'm reading a b-book on aviation a-and th-the speed of the m-mach."

"Well there's no need to be embarrassed!" Doctor Robotnik replied, I could feel the colour that had risen to my cheeks from embarrassment disappear already.

"There's not?" I asked a quite quizzical look on my face,

"No there isn't, I am a man of science and well, I believe that a scientific pursuit would be incredibly good for you." Doctor Robotnik had stated, "Now may I see the book that you are reading?"

"Yes sir you may." I replied. Relieved that the man who had created me, the man who was being so cruel to me after first awakening me, well, he was now being so nice.

After many moments of silence, only broken by the subtle flick of a page as Doctor Robotnik flipped through the book he had taken from me, he turned to me and asked "How does 'Miles Prower' sound to you?"

I looked at him the quizzical look once again returned to my features. "I'm sorry sir, but what do you mean?" I asked him.

"I mean it as a name 'Miles Prower' it sounds a whole lot better than 'Robotnik Junior' don't you believe?" He questioned me a slight smile on my face as he looked at me, every feature on his face showed kindness towards me.

Taking this kindness and reiterating it to him, excitedly and in as low a voice as I possibly could muster, I beamed; "That name sound wonderful! Thank you Doctor Robotnik!"

"You are welcome. And please drop the 'Sir's' and 'Doctor Robotnik's' for me will you, please Miles?" He asked, using my newly christened name and tugging at my heart strings.

"Yes but what will I call you then?" I asked, still beaming with a wide grin set across my features as a result of my newly given name.

"Just Robotnik will do. Now you best get to bed, we have a busy day tomorrow Miles" He replied, a grin also spreading on his face as a result of my innocent questioning.

"Goodnight si- I mean Docto- oops, sorry, Robotnik!" I replied gleeful as I let out a long yawn and flopped out onto my bed, hearing my door close and a faint laughter escape the lips of the ever-so-serious scientist.

The next three weeks passed by in a flash. Robotnik taught me about machines, planes, cars, robotics, you name it he taught it to me. I found that I have a peculiar knack for mathematics able to do even the hardest of calculations on a piece of paper and in my head. However I was walking around one day, collecting materials for a new machine, when I overheard Robotnik talking to another person. As any child's curiosity is peaked, be they naturally born or tank grown, I decided to see what all of the fuss was about. I wish I never had. As I rounded the corner to have a peek, I heard Robotnik state; "Soon the plan will all come together, the bombs are prepared and ready to go, the robotic air bombers… they will soon be built, the perfect plan, no the perfect Genocide. Doppelganger Bot! Grab me the map and the schematics!"

At the Doctor's bark, I heard the small robot wheel its way towards the far side of the room. I then popped my head around the corner. What I saw horrified me. It chilled me to the very core of my being. It was a plan. A mapped out area, known as Westside Island. It showed the island and key locations on it. There were X's and O's placed on it. My assumptions were that they were placed there for invasion and possibly bombing reasons. As my thoughts wandered to questioning Doctor Robotnik's morals and plans. The schematics though, they were nerve wracking to me, it was a robot, a flying one that looked like an evil black bee, the worst part though. It was my design, I created it. Robotnik spoke up again, reliving me of my thoughts; "This time that Blue Pest will be the last thing that stops me, I have a surprise in store for him. Miles, he will get rid of the Hedgehog for me. It's what he was designed for." At the mention of my name, I shivered, my teeth clacked together audibly. I didn't want to hear any more about this. So I did the only thing that I could think of I ran away, back to my room.

There I stood in my room, hiding from the fearful thoughts that now plagued me. One side of me wanted to side with Doctor Robotnik, believing that maybe there was a perfectly logical reason for the use of the word 'Genocide.' The other side of me, believed that the Doctor meant every word that he had said. The vibes that he first gave me after he had first awakened me, those negative, evil vibes. Was this the real Robotnik, evil-doer? Mad scientist? I couldn't think clearly. So I did the next best thing that I could, I went to my bookshelf. I found two books. One on Westside Island, its history and its inhabitants. The other, a geography book detailing a mapped area of Westside Island. Soon after my thoughts were again turned to the issues with Robotnik. The books he gave me had stories in them about good vs evil. Was he the bad man trying to take over the kingdom? Was I the hero destined to stop him? I was close to tears. Almost crying, I got up off of my bed to return the books back to their respective places on the shelves. This is when I heard an echoing crash, tears choked back, I exited my room to investigate.

As I exited my room I heard the emergency sirens kick in and the fire sprinkles started to spray. I jumped as another explosion rocked the base, this time closer to where I was. I was still upset by the thoughts of Robotnik possibly being evil, but I pushed them aside as I needed to find him, if I ever had any hope of getting out of here alive. As I pushed my way through debris I called out "Robotnik where are you?" There was no response. "Robotnik! Doctor!" I called a second time.

I would have yelled out a third time, however I was stopped by a very audible beeping noise. A bomb. As I turned to the direction of the noise, I heard the Doctors familiar voice ring out; "Miles get away from there!" I ran as fast as I could for the second time that day, I was nearing Robotnik, my one lifeline of safety when I was hit by the shockwave of the explosion. The explosion blew a quite large, jagged hole out of the wall, I was headed straight for the murky depths that lied just outside of the base. I tried to cry for help, but they were drowned out by a looming darkness that shadowed its presence over me.

I awoke in an unfamiliar place, it was small, cramped and thoroughly cushioned. A mixture of a headache and stinging pain from cuts, both washing over me. I couldn't remember how I got both, didn't want to know. As I sat up a figure stood over me, a shrouded silhouette who stood in the way of the sun.

"Woah, woah, easy there little guy, you're all banged up." the voice stated.

"Wh-where am I?" I asked feeling groggy.

"You're in my plane." The Shadow quipped.

"P-plane? What plane?" I asked, more confused than ever.

"The plane that you're sitting in right now." The figure who was now shuffling from foot to foot, stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm sitting in a plane?" I asked, my head tilted, ears sticking up.

"Well yeah, the plane I own. The Tornado, think yourself lucky kid, not too many people get to sit in this plane." The figure said, now stepping out of the suns path, to reveal a cobalt hedgehog standing there grinning, "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!" He added in a cocky tone.

"Sonic the Hedgehog?" I asked, my head tilted in confusion, partly from pain. "Never heard of you." I added, shaking my head slightly.

"Never. Heard. Of me?" He added slowly, believing my statement was uncomprehend able. "How could you not? I'm the fastest thing alive!" He stated, in a cocky, mock-hurt way.

"If you're the fastest thing alive, then prove it, I wanna see." I added, challenging him.

"Well then, watch carefully kid, cause I am about to blow your mind." He said, coolly.

I watched him intently as I saw him dash off. A blue blur, a streak, racing along the ground. It was amazing to watch, awe-inspiring to comprehend. But just as I was focusing on this awesome sight before me, the spectacle was over. Sonic was back to standing beside me, an awestruck fox. I was staring at him, eyes wide and filled with glee, when he spoke up. "So kid, now that I have shown you my speed, how about you do me a favour."

I snapped back to reality as he spoke, "S-sure, anything. Just name it." I said, still comprehending the awesome sight laid out before me.

"Well, how about you tell me your name for starters. And how you got here." The hedgehog stated.

"M-my name?" I asked, genuinely confused. I couldn't recall anything of the sort. What was my name? Why couldn't I remember?

"Yeah you're name. Y'know, what you're called?" Sonic asked me, again matter-of-factly.

Something about this newcomer's speed, it made a spot of my brain flicker, briefly, if just for a moment, two words escaped from my lips. "Miles Prower…" I whispered, realisation hit me like a truck; I spoke up, a few decibels louder this time. "Miles Prower! That's my name!" I shouted, not realising how close to Sonic that I actually was.

"Hey that's great! Is there anything that you remember besides your name?" He asked me. A touch louder than he should have.

"N-no, I can only remember my name. Other than that, nothing." I replied, tilting my head, pain washing over me as a sharp stab coursed through my head. I groaned and cried out, holding my head. Images flashed behind my eyes, a man, one that I could not recall, standing next to me a look of remorse upon his face, long bristly moustache waving uselessly. The images ceased, they were possibly a cause of the severe agony that had so suddenly washed over me. My knees would have buckled out from under me, if not for the cobalt hero standing beside me.

"Hey, hey, easy there. Are you alright?" The now concerned hedgehog asked me.

"I-I think I'm fine now, my head still hurts though." I said, the pain still there but dulling in my skull.

"Alright then, tell me if you need anything." He said as he let go of me. As I stood, my knees wobbled but refused to go. I then saw something moving at a fast pace towards me, a black metal bee. More images flashed before my eyes, as I saw a creation, a black bee with a metallic stinger sat in front of me, glaring menacingly, as a man, the same one from before, stood over at it, oozing with malice. The vision was over as fast as it had begun. As I snapped back to reality, the scene I witnessed horrified me. The bee, the same glaring look on its face, was racing towards me at a pace that was terrifying. I cringed, but stood tall, that's when the second awe-inspiring spectacle of the day had begun. I saw Sonic, the hedgehog, who, only moments ago was still, went into action. He raced towards the bee at blinding speeds, only to jump and twist in mid-air, he was like a spiky blue buzz saw, cutting through the metal of the contraption like butter. As he landed on his feet, he looked over to me, smiled cockily, and stuck two thumbs up into the air.

I looked at him, his face, where cockiness once laid like a mask, was now one of stone-cut determination. I stared at him, wondering how. How could this hedgehog be so calm in danger like that? How could he go from playful cockiness, to determination so quickly? I only knew one thing now. I wanted to help this, this, hero. I needed to help him. With as good a look of determination that I could muster, I asked the question that was annoying me. "Sonic, how… how can I be like you?"

"What do you mean?" He replied to my rather broad question.

"How, how, can I be just like you? As brave as you are? As kind and considerate?" I asked him, my face going red with fluster and embarrassment. "I mean, you found me, lying there, unconscious, but yet you helped me. You helped me by letting me sleep in your plane. You looked after me when I was in need of it. You… You…" I tried to continue, but tears started to roll down my cheeks. I was sore, scared and terrified by what I saw in those visions. My knees finally gave way and I fell to the ground in a heap, tears rolling down my cheeks as sobs escaped my throat. Flustered and scared, I sat there, my knees up to my chin, crying and letting it all flow out. My tails were snaking their way to curl up around my body, when I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. The hand felt comforting, in a friendly sort of way.

"Hey, hey, cheer up. It's all gonna be okay. Whats wrong?" He consoled. Deep in thought.

"I-I-I I wanna be like you! I want to save people! You're so cool, and you manage to do it!" I said, wailing between sobs. "You're brave, kind and funny. And I'm just a random washup that you found on the beach. I want to know how to be like-like you!" I finished, breaking down into a mass of limbs and sobs.

"Look, you wanna be like me?" He asked me, that fire of determination once again in his eyes. "Well, you can come and help me defeat Ol' Doctor Robotnik." He said. I perked up at his words. Even though we only knew each other for an hour, there was this aura of trust, like a hand shooting out from a place that I didn't know existed. A hand that wanted to help me. The hand of Sonic the Hedgehog, the hero that I now saw him as, everything about him oozed confidence. Confidence that he could stop whatever threat this was. This 'Doctor Robotnik.' I felt like I knew the man, but couldn't place why. As my sobs began to cease, my tails and ears perked up again.

"You, you mean it? Every word?" I asked, hope mingling with a new-found happiness inside of me.

"I mean it. Every single word of it." He replied, a mixture of cockiness and determination once again returning to his features. "You stick with me and I help you. How about it? Partners?" He asked, sincerity in his tone. He did mean every word. Every single one of them.

I just looked at him, a look that could rival a stunned fish, now playing across my features. After several moments of just sitting there, Sonic's hand protruding out to me in a gesture of kindness. Without a single word, I extended my hand, took his in my grip and shook it. "Partners." I reiterated, happiness bubbling throughout me. I was this man's partner. Sonic's partner. I knew I wouldn't let him down.

As I stood up, I had a new feeling inside of me. One of confidence and not feeling alone anymore. But there was one question still plaguing my mind. Who was Robotnik? I turned to Sonic, as well as I could without looking spooked, and asked him "Sonic, who's Doctor Robotnik?"

"Who's Doctor Robotnik? I am surprised Miles. First you don't know who I am, but you've never heard of Doctor Robotnik either?" He quipped, a look of mock horror on his face.

"Nope. Never heard of him." I replied. A look of innocence across my face. As Sonic opened his mouth to speak, I had a thought. "Wait, is Doctor Robotnik a mean looking, tall man, with a thick, bushy moustache?" I asked, beating Sonic to the mark.

"Well, yeah." Sonic replied to my question. "But he's mean. Like the meanest mean you've ever come across. He creates armies of robots so he can take places like Westside Island over." He described to me, not noticing the haunted look on my face as he spoke. "What's wrong? Was it somethin' I said?" He asked me, concern once again striking his features.

"Well, no, but yes." I replied, deep in thought, trying to decipher what I had seen in my visions. Without a doubt, it was this 'Doctor Robotnik' that was plaguing my mind during those strange images that flashed in my mind.

"Whaddya mean 'no, but yes?'" He asked. Impatience causing his foot to tap incessantly.

"Well, when the robotic bee was attacking me, I had a vision, like a flash-back, except in it, I saw a big tall man, with a bushy-looking moustache." I explained. Cringing at the thought of the bee.

"Well that sound a lot like Ol' Chrome Dome." He stated, "But I dunno where this nightmare of yours came from." He said vaguely, a distant, thought filled look across his face. "However, I do know what we can do!" He piped; the distant look now long-gone. "Follow me, Partner! And try to keep up!" He said, more enthusiasm dripping from him than before. It was infectious, his attitude, the way he carried himself and I wanted to aspire to be like him. I wanted to move as fast as he could. As I watched him speed off into the distance, a spark inside of me lit up. It burst into a flame of eagerness, a flame of Sonic-like stature. So I ran. I chased after him. The spark now igniting a flame o bright, it practically made me faster. Then I looked, hi attitude had worn off, the spark had grown. I felt the wind around me breeze by and I looked back. The plane that I was in, what felt like only moments ago was now behind me. The speck that was my new partner Sonic, becoming more of a blotch. Then a figure able to be made out. I raced alongside him and he glanced at me. An astonished look creeping upon his face, if only for a short while, it was gone as soon as it was there. He stopped, so did I. A cocky smirk once again played on his features.

"Kid, you were goin' as fast as me! That's impressive!" He beamed. Staring at me with intent. "Do it again for me. I wanna see you move fast!" I listened to his words, focused on running, and amazingly, I was running as fast a Sonic was. It was then that I realised my feet weren't touching the ground at all. I was hovering! I looped back around to Sonic again and stopped just before him. It was his turn to look stunned. "I-I-I can't believe it! You were hoverin' with your tails! Your feet never touched the ground!" He beamed. His look of confidence now doubled. "Look kid, you don't have to be like me at this point. You're already fast enough!" He said, his encouragement hitting me like a much needed hug. He had confidence in me, I took his words and committed them to my memory, holding onto them. Not letting them slip my mind as we both sped off again. Blue and orange blurs streaking across the ground.

As we sped along, I looked up. What I saw was a fortress. A floating one, propelling itself slowly through the air. A pang of realisation hit me. If I wanted to get answers to these visions that plagued me, I needed to get to that fortress. As that fortress held the key as to why I was here and what happened to me to forget who that man was. I had a feeling then that I needed to follow Sonic, to help him in his quest to stop this evil doctor named Robotnik. And the path that he led, was the path that lead to my answers.

 **FIN**

 _ **So Ladies and Gentlemen, please leave a review. I don't care if you leave a short review or a long review, constructive criticism or no constructive criticism, a nice review or a flame. Just tell me what you thought of my first FanFic and I'll be happy to listen!**_

 _ **Cheers! Arctic Knight.**_


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